Day 2

Time for Day 2 of 20 Days of Gold Making.

Day 2: If you set yourself a goal, what was your goal & at what point did you set it?

For most of my gold making career, I simply set the goal of "make as much as possible".  And honestly, that mostly worked for my needs from Vanilla through Cataclysm.  However, during that time, I didn't see gold making so much as a goal in to itself but rather as a means to an end.  When something came along I wanted, I wanted to have the funds to buy it.

That changed in early Mists.  I'm at a point where I can no longer raid as seriously (though I still enjoy the amount I'm able to do).  But while I can't raid as much, I do have a lot of time at the computer where I can multitask.  So I started doing more reading on strategies and markets.  I started spending more time on The Consortium and The Undermine Journal.  I looked at trends on my server, looked at where profits could be had.

Once I picked a couple markets that seemed to offer a good return on time invested.  One I started seeing a steady income stream, I set a goal to finally hit the gold cap.  I didn't set a time limit, but pushed myself to reach it as quickly as possible.

I hit it.  I felt truly satisfied, and rested on my laurels for a couple weeks.  And then I set a new goal of reaching 2 Million within the next 60 days.  While I'm not quite on track to hit it at this point, it's motivated me to keep up with posting and reposting.  And more importantly, be aggressive in buying resources, and the occasional flipping.  I'll probably take another look at goals once the summer hits, and I have a bit more free time.

If you're wondering about how to set your own goals, I think there are two options:  
1. Set a gold goal.  Set a number, set a date, and work towards it
2. Set an item goal.  Always wanted that mammoth, but could never afford it?  There's your goal.

Don't ever get discouraged that you don't have as much gold as someone else.  We all started out penniless. And not only that, there's always a bigger fish.  That is, someone else will always have more than you.  Decide where you want to be, and work towards that.  Don't worry about your friend or guildmate.

Tomorrow:  Day 3: What were the first techniques/tricks/tips you used when starting out?

- Honus 2/25/13